Foie Gras Steak-Out at Christopher's/Crush Lounge
Saturday night, a group of thirty or so animal activists led by Dani Thumma -- with the help of the California-based Animal Protection and Rescue League and In Defense of Animals -- pounced on the Biltmore in East Phoenix to protest the serving of foie gras at Christopher's Restaurant and Crush Lounge.
Not the best turnout, but pretty good considering 1. it was the group's first protest 2. it was a sweat-enducing 105 degrees out there and 3. the low visibility of this issue (As numerous commenters to Lauren Gilger's original post on this issue pointed out, several dozen restaurants in the area serve foie gras, but the numbers who consume it are relatively low.)
Thumma originally planned to host the protest directly in front of the restaurant, but after speaking to the Biltmore's management office, the group was forced to picket with their graphic signs on the public sidewalk out front on the corner of 24th St. and Camelback Rd. -- not the best location for passing out literature, but a decent place to gather support from folks in passing cars via a honk or wave.
By SimonDoggett via Flickr.
This meat loaf is cause for protest.
Of course, what passersby were likely wondering was, "what's all the fuss about?" and "are these people just crazy hippie activists?"
Find out after the jump...
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| Thumma (right) and another protester in action. |
It all started when Thumma visited the now-infamous "slaughter sites" on the Web. Sigh. We've heard this a thousand times before from people who freely ate meat before witnessing the horrors of how it's sourced and prepared for death, usually through graphic images on the net or in a documentary like Food, Inc.
If you have a weak spot for animals and you weren't raised on a farm, just skip the pics and stick a finger down your throat: you'll get the same effect. Then either become a vegetarian, or decide your hamburger's worth it.
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| Part of the information packet handed out by Thumma's troops. |
Unlike some of the wacky PETA protesters, Thumma doesn't come across as a nut job. She's unassuming. She debates rationally. And she isn't necessarily anti-meat, just anti-cruelty. "These animals are literally tortured to death for a delicacy appetizer," says Thumma. "In human terms, the force-feeding that is done to ducks would translate to a 150-pound human being force fed 60 pounds of food per day. There is simply no room for this in a civilized society."
Most of the protesters who turned out shared similar viewpoints, though another protester said she hopes that people who ingest fois gras "choke on it." An animal-friendly opinion, until you remember that people are animals, too.
Thumma's opponents point out that foie gras has been around for centuries, and say she could better spend her efforts elsewhere since the amount of people who eat foie gras isn't exactly huge.
Shocking, but not as eye-grabbing as a naked woman on a barbecue.
"The goal today was to try to get Christopher's Restaurant and Crush Lounge to make the compassionate decision and remove this cruel dish from their menu and to bring public awareness to the cruelty behind foie gras," Thumma explains.
Considering Chef Christopher Gross responded to the protest by joking about sending out someone in a duck costume, we're thinking Thumma will be protesting on that corner till the cows come home.
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